Collar and cuff-like garment member and method of making it

ABSTRACT

AN ABRASION RESISTANT WOVEN OR KNITTED APPAREL FABRIC WHEREIN THE UPPERMOST FIBERS OF ONE FACE OF THE FABRIC ARE HELD TIGHTLY TOGETHER BY A POLYMERIC COATING COMPOSITION. THE FABRIC IS FURTHER CHARACTERIZED IN THAT A SUBSTANTIAL NUMBER OF YARNS BELOW THE COATED FACE THEROF HAVE THE ABILITY TO MOVE FREELY RELATIVE TO ADJACENT YARNS. THE   FABRIC IS SUITABLE FOR USE IN GARMENT MEMBERS SUCH AS COLLARS, LAPELS, CUFFS AND THE LIKE.

Sept. 5, 1972 M. A. THOMAS COLLAR AND CUFF'LIKE GARMENT MEMBER ANDMETHOD CF MAKING IT Original Filed Sept. 14, 1964 mvzzvron. MANUELA.THOMA$ ATTORNEY United States Patent '0 27,474 COLLAR AND CUFF-LIKEGARMENT MEMBER AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Manuel A. Thomas, Spartanburg,S-.C., assignor to Deering Milliken Research Corporation, Spartanburg,S.C. Original No. 3,448,462, dated June 10, 1969, Ser. No. 396,257,Sept. 14, 1964. Application for reissue Aug. 25, 1969, Ser. No. 853,572Int. Cl. A41b 3/00, 7/0(1J%421d 27/08; D06m 15/38,

US. Cl. 2-143 15 Claims Matter enclosed in heavy brackets appears in theoriginal patent but forms no part of this reissue specification; matterprinted in italics indicates the additions made by reissue.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An abrasion resistant woven or knittedapparel fabric wherein the uppermost fibers of one face of the fabricare held tightly together by a polymeric coating composition. The fabricis further characterized in that a substantial number of yarns below thecoated face thereof have the ability to move freely relative to adjacentyarns. The fabric is suitable for use in garment members such ascollars, lapels, cuffs and the like.

This invention relates to abrasion resistant fabrics and morespecifically to stiffened abrasion resistant plied fabrics suitable foruse in garment members such as collars, lapels, cuffs and the like.

Stilfened garment sections such as shirt collars and the like arecommonly prepared by fusing two sections of fabrics to an interiorlydisposed plastic stiffener or by stitching two sections of fabric to aninteriorly disposed stiffening fabric or by stitching together aplurality of fabric layers of substantially similar construction.Garment members prepared in the aforementioned manner still rely uponthe outer fabric construction for abrasion resistance properties. Forthis reason, it is common to employ a heavier fabric in cuff, collar andlapel members and the like, than is employed in the body of a garment.The use of fabrics of varying weight in a garment often results inserious color matching, stitching and aesthetic problems.

It is therefore an object of this invention to prepare an abrasionresistant plied fabric that has the Proper body and which may beemployed in the preparation of garment sections without requiringextensive stitching operations.

It is another object of this invention to prepare abrasion resistantgarment sections from garment body fabric.

In accordance with this invention, it has now been discovered that anabrasion resistant plied fabric that has the proper body and which issuitable for use in the manufacture of garment members may be preparedby depositing a polymeric composition on those yarns forming the face ofa fabric, whereby only the uppermost fibers in these yarns are heldtightly together by the [ploymeric] polymeric composition, the yarnsthemselves being relatively free to move, and then forming a continuousplied structure from the treated fabric. While any of a wide variety ofcoating techniques may be employed to deposit a polymeric composition ona single face of the fabric, a more detailed description of thepreferred coating procedure may be seen in US. Patent No. 3,141,810. Thepolymeric composition is preferably a polymeric composition which willmaintain its dimensional stability at temperatures above 300 F., that isto say, the polymeric composition should not be effected by thosetemperatures which are commonly employed in ironing cotton fabrics.

While the invention as described herein is suitable for use with any ofthe textile fabrics known to garment manufacturers, the preferredfabrics are the apparel fabrics such as shirting fabrics and morespecifically cotton fabrics, cotton-rayon blend fabrics,cotton-polyester blend fabrics, cellulose ether fabrics, cellulose esterfabrics, rayon fabrics, nylon fabrics, polyester fabrics and the like.The coating composition may also be any coating composition may also beany coating composition which has the ability to retain its dimensionalstability at elevated temperatures. Resins which have been found to beespecially suitable for use as coating compositions in this inventionare acrylic polymers, particularly blends of acrylic acid with loweralkyl acrylates, such as methyl and ethyl acrylate, polyurethanes, andaldehyde resin modified and alkylene oxide modified polyurethanes. Theterm polyurethane as employed herein is considered to includepolyurethane prepolymers and combinations of reactive ingredients whichare capable of forming polyurethanes in situ. In general, the resincoating should be applied to one face of the fabric in amounts of fromabout 2% by weight of the fabric to about 15% by weight of the fabric.

A better understanding of the invention may be had from a discussion ofthe drawings which are as follows:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of an abrasion resistant stiffened collarmember.

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the abrasion resistant stiffened collarmember of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a schematic diagram of one means for applying a coatingsuitable for producing abrasion resistant stilfened properties in afabric.

In FIGURE 1 a collar member 1 is illustrated, the collar being fashionedfrom a single fabric blank secured by stitches 2. The fabric blank iscoated with an abrasion resistant coating composition on a single face.Collar member 1, therefore, has a coating on that portion of the collarwhich is below the plying juncture formed at juncture 3 while the tabportion 4 of the collar which is above juncture 3 is free of coating. Abetter understanding of the disposition of the coated surface may be hadfrom a review of FIGURE 2 of the drawings which is a side view of FIGURE1 taken along the line H, II. The exposed face of the main portion ofcollar member 21, that is to say that portion lying below stitch member22, carries an abrasion resistant coating. That portion of collar member21 which lies above stitch member 22, that is to say tab member 24, isfree of coating material on the exposed face, the coated side havingbeen turned inwardly.

In FIGURE 3 the fabric 31 is passed over suitable guide rolls 32 into apad bath 3% containing a resinous coating composition. After passageunder pad roll 34, the fabric is passed over suitable guide rolls 32onto a continuous damp duck conveyer member 35. The pad pan coatedfabric is passed over and in contact with an endless damp duck belt 35and is dried by means of flash dryer 36. The technique is found to besuch that the resinous impregnant migrates to that side opposite a dampduck continuous conveyor 35 and therefore results in a fabric havingresins deposited on those yarns forming one face of the fabric. Theconveyor member 35 is continuously maintained in a damp condition bypassage through a water containing pad pan member 37. The finishedfabric which is coated on a single face is then Wound onto takeup roll38.

It should be understood that other techniques may be employed fordepositing the polymeric composition on one face of the fabric such as,for instance by a spraying technique, a knife coating technique or bypressure migration techniques such as sponging and the like.

The polymeric composition is preferably dried and at the same time curedat a temperature at which the composition coalesces to hold the fibersof the face yarns tightly together, but at a low enough temperature toavoid undue flowing of the composition into the fabric. The :uringtemperature, therefore, will generally lie within the range oftemperatures at which the polymeric composition is plasticized. For thepreferred polymeric compositions suitable for use in accordance withthis invention, drying and curing is preferably effected by flashdryingthe treated fabric at those elevated temperatures, preferably betweenabout 100 and about 200 C., or even higher, up to about 300 C.

In this regard, it is preferred that the undried fabric does not contactan unyielding surface, such as a guide roll, prior to curing as thepressure will effect migration of the polymeric composition into thefabric, thereby necessitating more specialized drying techniques toobtain even fair results.

The location of the polymeric composition on the face yarns isfacilitated in a specialized technique, wherein one of the two faces ofthe coated fabric is dried more rapidly. When this technique isutilized, the polymeric composition migrates only to the face yarnsduring the flash drying operation presumably because of the drying andtemperature differentials between the faces of the fabric. It isbelieved that for this reason, the migration effect occurs to provide afabric having the polymeric composition in the desired location.

The flash-drying medium may be any conventional drying apparatus, suchas hot air ovens or infrared lamp arrays. Preferably an air circulatingmeans is provided so that hot air is circulated through the fabricduring drymg.

Great care must be taken in applying the polymeric composition to thefabrics to insure that the material will be deposited properly on theface yarns. Total immersion of the fabric for extended periods of time,for example, invariably causes substantially complete impregnation ofthe fabric and the desirable characteristics of the fabric of thisinvention are not generally obtained. Spray techniques have been usedwith success but process conditions must be very carefully controlled.It is difiicult, for example, to prevent the polymeric composition fromflowing between the face yarns and into the fabric when this procedureis utilized. Clogging of the spray valves is not too uncommon, either,thereby resulting in uneven distribution of the polymeric composition onthe fabric. By utilizing a polymeric composition medium of fairly lowsolids content, e.g., from about 1% to about 3% by weight solids, and byspraying the material onto a rapidly moving fabric, e.g., about 20-30yds. per minute, the desired location of the polymeric composition maybe obtained. The sprayed fabric is taken immediately from the spraychamber into an oven, heated to a temperature approximately thesoftening point of the polymeric composition to fix the polymericcomposition in the desired location and to assist in preventing themigration of the polymeric composition into the fabric. The sprayingprocedure may be greately facilitated by running the fabric in avertical manner and spraying the polymeric composition onto thevertically moving fabric from horizontally displaced spray guns.

The difficulties in controlling the spraying techniques are obviated,however, by applying the material, by means of a trough apparatusincluding an open-ended trough lined with a porous material, preferablyof nylon, in such a manner that the porous material extends through theopen end of the trough to form a bag-like protuberance. The liningmaterial is of such a weave that the polymeric composition will not flowthrough except upon contact with the fabric to be treated. The pressureon the material caused by the running fabric is sufiicient to release alimited amount of the polymeric composition evenly onto the fabricsurface which contacts the bag. The fabric is then passed immediatelyinto a curing zone and the polymeric composition is rapidly cured beforeundue impregnation of the fabric can occur.

Generally, it is preferred to apply the polymeric composition as anaqueous medium, such as an aqueous solution or emulsion. Improved dryingis realized in some instances by dissolving or emulsifying the polymericcomposition in an organic medium, such as the lower alkyl alcohols,methanol, ethanol and the like.

The following examples are given for purposes of illustration and shouldnot be considered as limiting the spirit or scope of this invention:

Example I A plain woven cotton broadcloth shirting fabric of 136 by 64construction having a weight of about 2.65 yarns per lb. is knife coatedat a 0 micrometer setting with a gardener knife employing a coatingcomposition comprising 20% by weight Unithane 500 solids (polyurethaneprepolymer marketed by Thiokol Chemical Company) and 10% by weightUnithane F5 solids (polyurethane prepolymer marketed by Thiokol ChemicalCompany) the knife coating technique being carried out in a manner suchthat one face of the fabric is completely coated without any of thecoating composition striking through to the opposite face. The pickup ofsolids coating composition is about 11% by weight based on the dryweight of the fabric. The fabric is then dried and collar blanks are cutfrom the coated fabric. The collar blanks are then folded approximatelyin one half the edge portion of the blanks being foldede down to thecentral dividing portion in manner such that one-half presents two faceswhich expose the coating while the other half presents two faces whichare free of coating. A tab member furnished by the blank is thenstitched so as to secure the coated fabric in a manner whereby thecoated surfaces form a garment collar While the uncoated surface forms acollar band. Collars prepared in this manner are found to have resilientabrasion resistant characteristics without being stiff. The collars arealso found to withstand washing and ironing operations without any lossof their resilient characteristics.

Example II The procedure of Example I was repeated with the exceptionthat the coating composition was applied to a woven cotton oxford clothshirting fabric of 88 by 50 construction having a weight of 2.85 yardsper lb. Coating carried out in a manner such that a pickup of 14% byweight solids is obtained based on the dry weight of the fabric. Thecollars made from this material were also found to be able to withstandwashing and ironing operations without any substantial loss in theirresilient characteristics.

Example III A plain woven cotton broadcloth fabric of 136 by 64construction having a weight of about 2.65 yards per lb. is padded toabout wet pickup. The coating composition being 12% by weight Unithane500 solids (polyurethane prepolymer prepared by Thiokol ChemicalCompany) and 7.8% Unithane F5 solids (polyurethane prepolymer preparedby Thiokol Chemical Company) in an aqueous carrier. The padded fabric isthen placed on a damp duck fabric conveyor held on a pin frame and driedat about C. for about 5 minutes in an oven. Samples are then cured atabout 160 C. for about 2 minutes. Collar blanks are cut from the coatedmaterial which is found to have polyurethane deposited on a single face.The collar blanks are folded approximately in one half the edge portionsof the blanks being folded down to the central dividing portion in amanner such that one-half presents two faces which expose the coatingwhile the other half presents two faces which are free of coating. A tabmember furnished by the blank is then stitched so as to secure thecoating of the fabric in a manner whereby the coated surfaces form agarment collar while the uncoated surface forms a collar band. Collarsprepared in this manner are found to have a resilient abrasion resisting characteristic without being stiff.

Example IV Example V A polyester-cotton (65% polyester 35% cotton)shirting fabric of 136 by 64 construction was spray coated with with alatex composition comprising Rhoplex K3 (aqueous dispersion of acrylicpolymers marketed by Rohm and Haas Chemical Company) in a manner suchthat one face of the fabric is completely coated without any of thecoating composition striking through to the opposite face. The coatingwas carried out in a manner such that a pickup of 8% by weight of latexwas obtained on the dry fabrics. The fabric was dried and collar blanksare cut from the coated fabric. The collar blanks are then foldedapproximately in one half the edge portions of the blanks then beingfolded down to the central dividing portion in a manner such thatone-half presents two faces which expose the coating while the otherhalf presents two faces which are free of coating. A tab memberfurnished by the blank is then stitched so as to secure the coatedfabric in a manner whereby the coated surfaces form a garment collarwhile the uncoated surface forms collar bands. The finished collars arefound to have resilient abrasion resistent characteristics without beingstilf and to retain these characteristics after repeated washing andironing operation.

In order to evaluate the brasion resistent characteristics of theapparel fabrics prepared according to the method of this invention,abrasion tests were conducted according to the tests set forth in ASTMdesignation D1175D. In the test, fabric specimens are subjected torotary rubbing action under controlled conditions of pressure andabrasive action. A Tabor abrasor apparatus manufactured by TaborInstruments Company of North Tonawanda, New York, was employed equippedwith a number CS-lO abrasion wheel carrying a 1000 gram load. The testswere run for a visual evaluation with the end point of each test beingdetermined by the first surface yarn break. Tests carried out on thefabric, produced according to Example I, showed no breaks after 300revolutions; the control, however, which was an identical uncoatedfabric, showed numerous surface breaks after 300 revolutions. The oxfordcloth fabric, prepared according to the method set forth in Example H,showed no breaks whatsoever after 300 revolutions, while the controlledfabric which was identical in all respects with the exception that ithad not been coated, showed numerous breaks after 300 revolutions. Thebroadcloth shirting fabric prepared according to the method set forth inExample III showed no significant breaks after 500 revolutions while thecontrol broadcloth fabric, which was identical in all respects with theexception that the coating was omitted, showed innumerable breaks after300 revolutions. The oxford cloth shirting fabric, prepared according tothe method set forth in Example IV, showed no significant breaks after500 revolutions while the oxford cloth shirting fabric, which wasidentical in all respects with the exception that it had not beencoated, showed numerous breaks after 300 revolutions.

Additional tests were run to evaluate the abrasion resistantcharacteristics of the apparel fabrics prepared according to the methodof this invention, the tests being run according to ASTM DesignationD1l75-55TA (inflated diaphragm method). This method determines theresistance to abrasion of a specimen when the specimen is inflated overa rubber diaphragm under controlled air pressure and rubbedunidirectionally. The test apparatus employs electrical contact pinsdisposed on either side of the sample, the pins making contact when theunidirectional rubbing causes a break in the fabric thereby stopping themachine. This testing procedure showed that the broadcloth samples,prepared according to Example I, ran for 250 cycles while identicaluncoated fabrics ran for 138 cycles. The oxford cloth fabric, preparedaccording to the method set forth in Example II, ran for 278 cycleswhile an identical uncoated fabric ran for 218 cycles. The broadclothfabric, prepared according to Example III, ran for cycles whileidentical uncoated fabrics ran for 138 cycles.

Having thus disclosed the invention what is claimed is:

1. A garment member comprising an abrasion resistant woven or knittedapparel fabric wherein the uppermost fibers of one face of said fabricare held tightly together by a polymeric coating and wherein asubstantial number of yarns below said coated face have the ability tomove freely relative to adjacent yarns, said fabric being folded topresent a portion with two polymer coated faces of said garment memberand being additionally folded to present a second portion of saidgarment member with two faces free of coating.

2. A garment member according to claim 1 wherein said polymeric coatingon said fabric is dimensionally stable at temperatures of at least 300F.

3. A garment member according to claim 1 wherein the polymeric coatingis selected from a group consisting of polyurethane polymers and acrylicpolymers.

4. A garment member according to claim 1 which is a garment culf.

5. A garment member according to claim 1 which is a garment collar.

6. A garment collar member comprising a fabric including a tab portionfolded to present two polymer coated faces, a band portion reversefolded to present two faces free of coating and stitching to retain saidtab and band portions in said folded positions.

7. A garment collar member according to claim 6 wherein the uppermostfibers of one surface of said fabric are held tightly together by apolymeric coating and a substantial number of yarns below said coatedsurface have the ability to move freely relative to adjacent yarns.

8. A garment collar member according to claim 7 wherein said polymericcoating on said fabric is dimensionally stable at temperatures of atleast 300 F.

9. A garment collar member according to claim 7 wherein the polymericcoating is selected from a group consisting of polyurethane polymers andacrylic polymers.

10. A process for the preparation of a garment member which comprisescoating one surface of a fabric with a polymeric coating to tightly holdtogether the uppermost fibers of the coated surface of the fabric whilea substantial number of yarns below the coated surface have the abilityto move freely relative to adjacent yarns, folding a first portion ofsaid fabric to form two polymer coated faces of said garment member,folding a second portion of said fabric to form two other faces of saidgarment member free of coating and stitching said coated fabric toretain said first and second portions in their folded positions.

11. A process according to claim 10 wherein said polymeric coating isselected from the group of polyurethane polymers and acrylic polymers.

12. A process according to claim 10 wherein said first portion is foldedto form a collar tab portion and said second portion is folded to form acollar band portion.

13. A process for concentrating a substance adjacent one surface of atextile fabric which comprises (a) applying a substance in a liquidcarrier to a first textile fabric,

(b) placing said first textile fabric in contact with a second textilefabric which has been dampened previously,

(c) applying heat directly to said first textile fabric and said secondtextile fabric simultaneously to remove said liquid carrier whereby saidsubstamce is caused to become concentrated adjacent the surface of saidfirst textile fabric opposite said second textile fabric,

and

patent.

References Cited The following references, cited by the Examiner, are ofrecord in the patented file of this patent or the original UNITED STATESPATENTS Camusi 117120 Brannock 8115.5 X Hochberg 117120 X Peloquin117-139.4 X Smith 117-62 X Plotkin 38-140 Summer et a1 117139.4

Flnck 117-139.4 Habib 117139.5 Ruemens et a1 117139.4

relied on.

Borsellino 117-1395 Reynolds et al. 161--148 Geismar 2-123 Hurwitz117-139.4 Rothbarth 2123 Roberts 2131 Rabell 2-143 Tully 2143 McBurney2-14-3 Windemuth.

Donaldson 2-131 Hendrickson et a1. 161--406 OTHER REFERENCES Wakeman,Reginald L.: Chemistry of Commercial Plastics, Reinhold, New York(1947), pp. 469, 471, 472

WILLARD E. HOAG, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

2 123, 143, 243; 117-62, 139.4, 161 KP, 161 UB; 161-50, 102, 190, 231

